Synth

While TO tried at first to pay attention to what DH and Vik were talking about, they were not able to follow with the conversation and grew so confused that it was as though the two were speaking in another, unfamiliar language. Their attempt to listen and learn lasted only a few minutes longer as the show which DH had put on grew ever more entertaining than the incomprehensible chatter about 'tables' and 'logic loops'. Soon, the chatter over by the computers became mere background noise as TO focused in on fictional characters they had never met before working through mundane personal issues. Eventually, the constant opening and closing of the elevator door and the steady flow of people heading to the showers, while irritating at first, faded into the background.

If it hadn't faded into the background, TO would have noticed their visitor sooner.

As TO watched the show and became more engrossed in the story and the characters, they heard something near the foot of their bed. Most of the noise that had been going on around them they had ignored: The elevator, DH and Vik working, and the flow of people as they made their way to the showers, but this noise was closer than the others had been. TO glanced to the foot of the bed thinking it might be DH at first, trying to sneak up on them for some odd reason.

Unfamiliar black eyes looked back at them, and in that moment TO knew it was Kei. They knew that somehow Kei had snuck onto the ship to do as they said they wanted to, to kill both TO and DH! They jolted, pulling themself up as pain coursed through their body at the sudden movement and caused them to give a small, stifled cry of pain.

"Are you ok!?" The voice was not Kei's, and when TO looked again they saw that the black eyes belonged not to Kei, but to Constance. The small child now stared at TO, her eyes even bigger than before as she took in TO's flicked back ears and wide eyes.

"Ah, Constance." DH said as they pulled themself from their work, turning in their chair to face her and TO. "I said I'd get you-"

Constance turned around, her eyes narrowing suddenly at DH, "You said you'd get me when TO woke up!" she said, "You lied!"

"I did not!" DH said, their ears flicking down, "I fully intended to tell you later! but..."

"It's been busy." TO said, steadying themself with slow breaths as they pulled themself slowly back into a comfortable place on the bed. "And, today is really the first day I've been..." they paused; they wanted to say 'coherent' but they weren't sure that she'd understand what they meant. "Well, I wasn't really awake until today."

"I know." She said simply. She smiled broadly at TO, showing her sharp teeth, "I was checking on you!"

"Wait, what do you mean you were checking on them?" DH asked from the other side of the room. Constance looked back at them, her ears still down back and her eyes narrowed.

"I come down here in the morning to use the shower." She said, "and I'd check on them then, and sometimes if nobody was in the elevator when it opened on our floor, I snuck in and came down here to check. You just never noticed! When I came down this time, TO was awake." She gave DH as hard a stare as a small child could, looking as angry as possible. "When were you going to tell me they were awake!"

"Ah, later on today." DH said, amusement making their ears twitch subtly. While Constance was trying to be as scary and intimidating as possible, she was still a six-year old child who had rather synth-like features and as such the result overall was amusing rather than intimidating. "When I went up later to help Goretta with evening medications, I was going to tell you then!"

Constance continued to glare at DH, and TO was honestly worried that their mate would chuckle at her attempt to be scary, but Constance thankfully looked away before DH allowed their shoulders to shake in silent mirth.

"Why were you checking on me?" TO asked once she had turned away from DH. Their ears dipped, worried that she'd come 'discuss' her father with them. The drugs and worry over poor Avery had distracted them from everything that happened with Mark, but they hadn't forgotten it. If Pearla had indeed spoken to Constance about what happened then she'd know that not only was her father dead, but that it was TO's fault, right?

"Dad told me to stay with you." she said simply, the fins on her head drooping along with her ears, her eyes growing big once more. "So... I should be down here with you, right?"

Emotion, as well as civilian facial expressions and body language were still things that TO was getting used to. That being said, there were certain things in Constance's demeanor that they could read. Her pointed ears dipped along with the fins atop her head. Her eyes, though big, seemed to lack the excitement that she had when TO had met her preciously, and while the area around her eyes wasn't ringed blue , the skin around them was puffy.

"You don't have to stay here." TO said quietly, "Not if you don't want to." They couldn't imagine that she'd want to spend time with them, and didn't want her to feel forced to out of a sense of obedience to her dead father.

"Oh." She said, looking away from TO and casting her big eyes to the ground, "I mean... If you don't want me here-"

"No no, that's not what I meant!" TO said, ears back and down in panic at the misunderstanding, "It's just..." just what? that they didn't think she would want to be there? that she should hate them for letting her father die, for letting the last words he may have heard be a shouted order? "It's just that I think you'd have more fun with the other kids." TO finally said, "I'm not very entertaining, and there's not much to do down here."

"That's ok." She said as she glanced up at TO once more, "I'm not in the mood for fun anyway."

It was such an odd phrase to TO that she simply wasn't 'in the mood' for fun. Still, TO understood what she meant without having to think about it too much. "Well... if you want to stay here with me, I don't mind." They looked over to DO, "DH, you don't mind either, do you?"

"Not at all." DH said, "She can stay here as long as she wants."

"Are you sure?" She asked as she looked at TO. "I'll be quiet. I won't get in the way if you're busy."

"I'm not busy." TO said, forcing the corner of their lips into a smile as their ears lifted, "I'm anything but busy. I'm bored, in fact, and company would be useful." They glanced at the show playing on the screen. Certain things weren't intended for children, they knew that, but they had never what considered appropriate content might be in any depth before. Still, they recalled the ratings applied to the show when DH had first put it on, and knew that it was suitable for a general audience. Suitable, but not very entertaining. "I'm watching this show for now, but I don't think it'll be very entertaining to you." TO said. "Is that ok?"

Constance nodded and slipped from her little scooter board and onto the mattress, pulling herself over to the wall with the help of her tail. It was then TO noticed she had a small bag slung over her back. Once she had settled herself among pillows and blankets she dug into the bag and took out a small, brightly colored tablet. TO instantly recognized it as a variation of one of the learners tablets that Flit and Snout had altered to use for their work in trying to stop King Decon.

"A tablet?" they said, smiling, "Where did you get that?"

"Auntie Pearla gave it to me." She said. "There's a few tablets, and everyone's sharing them... but Auntie Pearla said I could have this one."

TO's question of why that was died on their lips, for as soon as they thought about it for more than a moment, they understood why. "Well, that was nice of her." They said. "What are you doing with it?"

"I'm supposed to be reading." She said, "But... I'm not. I'm drawing." She paused and looked up at TO, "Is that ok?" she asked, "I... don't feel like reading either."

"That's fine, of course!" TO said, their ears perking up in honest surprise, "You can draw?"

"A little." she said as the color of her cheeks darkened to a deeper blue. "I can draw fish really really well. Wanna see?"

"I do!" TO said, leaning forward to see better. Constance shifted slightly to let TO see as she took her fingers and slowly created the shapes of brightly colored things which TO assumed were fish. They knew nothing about art, about drawing or painting save for the handful of things they had overheard at the art show they went to. Some paintings were satisfying to look at, and some weren't. Some paintings could fill them with a sense of dread while others could invoke a sense of awe. With Constance, the very fact that she creating fish from memory and bringing them into reality on a screen with no formal training was an amazing thing to them.

"I'm not actually really good." Constance said, the color deepening on her face, "Jayda can draw fish better than I can. They actually look like fish, and he can make them look like they're coming right at you!" for a moment, the sadness faded and frustration overcame her, "It's not fair! I used to go into the water every day, and I could swim deep enough to see fish. He's only seen pictures, so shouldn't I be able to draw fish better than he can?" She huffed again, "But, he can draw all kinds of things. Pearla said our art is good in different ways, but I know Jayda's better."

"I think it's amazing that you can draw at all!" TO said, "I can't"

"Everyone can draw though." she said, frowning with concern and confusion, "When I went to school, even when I was younger they told us to draw stuff and everyone could draw something."

"Well, I never got a chance to draw before." TO admitted, "When I was in training, drawing wasn't something we were encouraged to do, and we were never told to draw anything."

Constance's went wide, her mouth dropping open to reveal the rows of teeth, "You mean you've never drawn anything?"

"Nothing." TO said, trying not to laugh at her reaction.

Constance was quiet for a moment longer, then she pulled herself close to TO and thrust the child sized tablet into their hands. "Here." She said, "I'll show you how to draw a fish."